CARETAKER

One of two missing people who abandoned a Loxahatchee exotic bird farm is probably dead, a detective told a judge on Friday.

Palm Beach County Sheriff's Detective Glenn Westcott said it was unlikely Lila Buerattan was still alive, but he said he could not elaborate because the investigation was ongoing.

He made the statements during a court hearing to decide if the families of Buerattan and her nephew, Bhagwan "Moses" Lall, would get custody of 335 exotic birds found alive at the farm. Hundreds of other birds were found dead at the farm.

County Judge Jeffrey Colbath also asked Westcott if he thought Lall, owner of the birds, was still alive.

"Possibly," Wescott said.

Lall and Buerattan have been missing since early June. Investigators found about 800 birds - about 400 died of starvation or dehydration - on June 15 on Lall's 5-acre estate in Loxahatchee. The surviving birds are at the county's Animal Care and Control Department.

Family members, who are from Guyana, are asking for at least temporary custody of the birds. The judge delayed a decision until next week.

Lall's mother, who is Buerattan's sister, came to the hearing with her daughter and sons.

While they want custody of the birds, they said they are more concerned with Lall and Buerattan's whereabouts.

"We have done everything," Mahadai Lall, Lall's mother said. She said she hadn't heard from her son or sister. "If I had heard anything at all, I wouldn't be here."

Investigators recently released information that Lall, 31, had been arrested on June 7 in Richmond Hill, Ga., for driving with a suspended license. He had seven to 10 exotic birds and about 100 tortoises in his van.

After bailing out of jail, he abandoned the animals in his van and disappeared.

The Lalls' attorney, Nick Stieglitz Jr., said the family has driven to New York and Tallahassee on tips that didn't pan out.

"Every rumor she hears, she drives to see what she can find," Stieglitz said after the hearing.

The family wants custody of the birds because they are part of their business, Stieglitz said. But if they don't get custody soon, they won't be able to pay to take them. Every day, the bill they owe the county for caring for the birds goes up. Now it's about $90,000, the attorney said. The birds are worth about $150,000.

The judge decided to wait until county officials figure out how much money is owed before ruling on who would get temporary custody of the birds.

If the family doesn't get them, they probably will be auctioned by the county.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture also wants money from the birds' owner: $28,000 in import fees Lall never paid, Assistant County Attorney Steve Calamusa told the judge.

The family wants to move the birds to a bird farm in Homestead, which will charge $2.50 a day per bird instead of the $10 per day the county is charging.

Dr. Susan Clubb, a Loxahatchee veterinarian who has been caring for the birds since they were found, said the birds are now in excellent condition. She told the judge that if the birds are moved, it should be as carefully as possible.

"The birds have been under a lot of stress," she testified. "Right now, they are really responding. A lot of people have gone through a lot of trouble to keep these birds comfortable. I think that if they got the same level of care, moving them would be appropriate."